Techniques to Consume Content and Metadata

ABSTRACT

Content and metadata associated with the content may be provided to a number of users. The content may be displayed on a display device while the metadata may be transmitted to a remote device corresponding to a receiving user. The user may further request desired information or metadata pertaining to the content and the requested information or metadata may be transmitted to the user&#39;s remote device. Different users may request different information on the same or different objects being displayed or presented on a display device. Each requesting user may receive requested information on the same or different objects via corresponding remote devices.

BACKGROUND

Users receive content such as video and audio information in a number ofways. While viewing a video, for example, a user may notice objects orindividuals in the video that are of interest, the user may desirefurther information on various presented objects, and so on. Typically,such information is not readily available to the user. If the video doesnot contain explicit information on the object of interest, forinstance, the user may have to look up the information via differentsources. However, a user typically does not wish to interrupt viewingthe video to research topics of interest that present themselves on thespur of the moment.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in orderto provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not anextensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identifykey/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of theinvention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed hereinin a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description thatis presented later.

In one example, content may be displayed or presented on a displaydevice to a number of users and metadata corresponding to the contentbeing displayed may be transmitted to a remote device corresponding toone or more of the users. The metadata may be associated with thecontent. For example, the metadata may describe or characterize aspectsor components of the content. In another example, the display device maydisplay the content but does not display the metadata.

In another example, metadata is transmitted to remote device based onpreferences of users and/or the user's remote devices. The metadata maybe associated with content being displayed or presented to users and maybe selected based on the preferences. The preferences may also be storedin storage for subsequent use.

Also, a system is described for displaying content, extracting metadataassociated with the content and sending the metadata to a remote devicethat is separate from the system.

Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as thesame becomes better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present description will be better understood from the followingdetailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable computing systemenvironment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a system for providing content andmetadata associated with the content.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating one example of a process forproviding metadata of content.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example for providing metadata ofcontent to a remote device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another example of processingrequests for metadata.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of transmitting usercontent to a remote device.

Like reference numerals are used to designate like parts in theaccompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

The variety of content that is available to users is ever increasing.For example, a user may watch a television program. The televisionprogram may have metadata associated with it, such as to identifyactors, directors, and so on. Traditional techniques that were used toprovide the content and metadata, however, were often disjointed and/orinterfered with the consumption of the content itself.

Techniques are described that relate to consumption of content andmetadata. In an implementation, content and metadata are received via abroadcast at a client device, such as through a television programhaving associated metadata that describes actors, subtitles, and so onthat is received by a set-top box. Preferences that correspond to aremote device (e.g., a remote control device of the set-top box) areidentified and metadata that corresponds to the identified preferencesis output to the remote device. For instance, a remote control devicemay have a preference to receive subtitle data and that subtitle datamay be provided to the remote control device for output, such as on anintegrated displayed device. In this way, the output of the subtitledata does not interfere with the output of the content by the set-topbox. A variety of other examples are also contemplated, furtherdiscussion of which may be found below.

The detailed description provided below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is notintended to represent the only forms in which the present example may beconstructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of theexample and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating theexample. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may beaccomplished by different examples. Systems described herein areprovided as examples and not limitations. As those skilled in the artwill appreciate, the present examples are suitable for application in avariety of different types of systems.

Exemplary Environment

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment 100 in an exemplaryimplementation that is operable to employ universal remote techniques todistribute metadata associated with displayed content. The illustratedenvironment 100 includes one or more head ends 102(m) (where “m” can beany integer from one to “M”) of a network operator, a client device 104and a content provider 106 that are communicatively coupled, one toanother, via network connections 108, 110. In the following discussion,the head end 102(m) as well as the client device 104 and the contentprovider 106 may be representative of one or more entities. Thereforereference may be made to a single entity (e.g., the client device 104)or multiple entities (e.g., the client devices 104, the plurality ofclient devices 104, and so on). Additionally, although a plurality ofnetwork connections 108, 110 are shown separately, the networkconnections 108, 110 may be representative of network connectionsachieved using a single network or multiple networks. For example,network connection 108 may be representative of a broadcast network withback channel communication, an Internet Protocol (IP) network, and soon.

The client device 104 may be configured in a variety of ways. Forexample, the client device 104 may be configured as a computer that iscapable of communicating over the network connection 108, such as adesktop computer, a mobile station, an entertainment appliance, aset-top box communicatively coupled to a display device as illustrated,a wireless phone, and so forth.

The content provider 106 includes one or more items of content 112(k),where “k” can be any integer from 1 to “K”. The content 112(k) mayinclude a variety of data, such as television programming,video-on-demand (VOD) files, and so on. The content 112(k) iscommunicated over the network connection 110 to the head end 102(m).

Content 112(k) communicated via the network connection 110 is receivedby the head end 102(m) and may be stored as one or more items of content114(n), where “n” can be any integer from “1” to “N”. The content 114(n)may be the same as or different from the content 112(k) received fromthe content provider 106. The content 114(n), for instance, may includeadditional data for broadcast to the client device 104.

One example of this additional data is illustrated in FIG. 1 as metadata116. Metadata 116 may include a wide variety of data that is used todescribe other data, which in this instance is content 114(n). Themetadata 116 may be associated with the content 114(n) in a variety ofways, such as streamed with the content over the network connection 108.Thus, distribution of the content 114(n) (and consequently the metadata116 in this example) from the head end 102(m) to the client device 104may be accommodated in a number of ways, including cable, radiofrequency (RF), microwave, digital subscriber line (DSL), satellite, viaInternet Protocol (IP) connection, and so on. Although the metadata 116is illustrated as being provided by the head end 102(m) for the sake ofsimplicity of the figure, it should be readily apparent that themetadata 116 may also originate from a wide variety of sources, such asa standalone third-party provider, the content provider 106, and so on.

The client device 104 may be configured in a variety of ways to receivethe content 114(n) and the metadata 116 over the network connection 108.The client device 104 typically includes hardware and software totransport and decrypt content 114(n) and the metadata 116 received fromthe head end 102(m) for rendering by the illustrated display device.Although a display device is shown, a variety of other output devicesare also contemplated, such as speakers.

The client device 104 may also include digital video recorder (DVR)functionality. For instance, the client device 104 may include memory118 to record content 114(n) as content 120(c) (where “c” can be anyinteger from one to “C”) received via the network connection 108 foroutput to and rendering by the display device. Thus, content 120(c) thatis stored in the memory 118 of the client device 104 may be copies ofthe content 114(n) that was streamed from the head end 102(m).

The client device 104 includes a communication module 122 that isexecutable on the client device 104 to control content playback on theclient device 104, such as through the use of one or more “commandmodes”, i.e., “trick modes”, to tune to a particular channel, orderpay-per-view content, and so on. The command modes may providenon-linear playback of the content 120(c) (i.e., time shift the playbackof the content 120(c)) such as pause, rewind, fast forward, slow motionplayback, and the like.

The head end 102(m) is illustrated as including a manager module 124.The manager module 124 is representative of functionality to configurecontent 114(n) for output (e.g., streaming) over the network connection108 to the client device 104. The manager module 124, for instance, mayconfigure content 112(k) received from the content provider 106 to besuitable for transmission over the network connection 108, such as to“packetize” the content for distribution over the Internet,configuration for a particular broadcast channel, map the content 112(k)to particular channels, and so on.

Thus, in the environment 100 of FIG. 1, the content provider 106 maybroadcast the content 112(k) over a network connection 110 to amultiplicity of network operators, an example of which is illustrated ashead end 102(m). The head end 102(m) may then stream the content 114(n)over a network connection to a multitude of client devices, an exampleof which is illustrated as client device 104. The client device 104 maythen store the content 114(n) in the memory 118 as content 120(c) and/orrender the content 114(n) immediately for output as it is received, suchas when the client device 104 is configured to include digital videorecorder (DVR) functionality. In another example, the client device 104may access streams of content from a plurality of head ends 102(m),further discussion of which may be found in relation to the followingdiscussion.

The client device 104 is further illustrated as being communicativelycoupled to a remote device 126 over a local network connection, such asa local wireless connection that may utilize radio frequency, infra red,and so on. The remote device 126 may be configured in a variety of ways,such as a device that extends functionality of the client device 104 andis targeted toward operation with that client device 104 and no other,such as a traditional television remote control that is provided with atelevision, and so on.

In another example, the remote device 126 may be configured foroperation apart from the client device 104 as well as with the clientdevice 104. The remote device 126, for instance, may be configured toinclude “stand alone” functionality, such as that exhibited by awireless phone (e.g., a “smart” phone), personal digital assistant,portable game player, portable music player, and so on. In such animplementation, the remote device 126 may be configured for operationwith a plurality of client devices 104. For example, a user of theremote device 126 may interact with a client device 104 at home andanother client device at work, interact with yet another client deviceat a friend's home, and so on.

In an implementation, the remote device 126 may be bound to one or moreclient devices 104 to provide the interaction. For example, the clientdevice 104 and/or the remote device 126 may include a “binding” buttonthat, when selected, creates a local network connection between theremote and client device 126, 104. Further, this binding may bepersisted such that when the remote device 126 is moved between clientdevices, the network connection is automatically created between theremote device 126 and the client device 106 without user intervention.For example, the binding information may be stored by the remote device126 and/or the client device 104, remotely over a network connection(e.g., by the head end 102(m)), and so on. A variety of other examplesare also contemplated.

As illustrated, the content 120(c) may be displayed on the displaydevice. The content 120(c) may include any type or amount of contentsuch as video or audio content as previously described. In addition,metadata 116 associated with the content 120(c) being displayed on thedisplay device may also be presented. In the illustrated example, themetadata 128 is transmitted to the remote device 126 for display. Asillustrated, the remote device 126 is remote from the display device ofthe client device 104. For example, the remote device 126 may beseparate from the display device and located at one location while thedisplay device may be located at a second location. In another example,the remote device 126 may be separate from the display device but may belocated in proximity to the display device.

The metadata 128 may include data that describes the content 120(c)being displayed on the display device. For example, the metadata 128 mayinclude information describing or characterizing objects being displayedin the content 120(c) on the display device or may include informationon an audio track of the content 120(c). Additionally or alternatively,the metadata 128 may include other information pertaining to the content120(c). As non-limiting examples to illustrate, the metadata 128 mayinclude alternate audio tracks (e.g., dialog in foreign languages),subtitle information, product information such as item descriptions,pricing information or sales/marketing information, biographicalinformation of people or characters portrayed in the content, and so on.

The client device 104 is further illustrated as including a metadatamodule 130 that is representative of functionality to interact with themetadata 128. For example, the metadata module 130 may separate themetadata 116 from the content 114(n) that is received via a stream fromthe head end 102(m). The metadata module 130 may also distribute thereceived metadata 116, such as to the remote device 126 as metadata 128.A variety of other examples are also contemplated, further discussion ofwhich may be found in relation to FIG. 2.

It should be noted that one or more of the entities shown in FIG. 1 maybe further divided (e.g., the head end 102(m) may be implemented by aplurality of servers in a distributed computing system), combined (e.g.,the head end 102(m) may incorporate functionality to generate themetadata 116), and so on and thus the environment 100 of FIG. 1 isillustrative of one of a plurality of different environments that mayemploy the described techniques.

Generally, any of the functions described herein can be implementedusing software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed-logic circuitry), manualprocessing, or a combination of these implementations. The terms“module”, “functionality”, “engine” and “logic” as used herein generallyrepresent software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. In thecase of a software implementation, for instance, the module,functionality, or logic represents program code that performs specifiedtasks when executed on a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). The program codecan be stored in one or more computer-readable memory devices, such asthe memory 118. The features of the techniques described herein areplatform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented ona variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety ofprocessors.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a system 200 for providing content andmetadata associated with the content. In this example, the system mayinclude an input 201 for receiving information from a data source, astorage 203 for storing information such as user or device preferencesor any other desired information, a data extractor 202 for identifyingdesired metadata data, an output 204 for providing the content to a userand/or a metadata output 205 for providing metadata to a remote device.FIG. 2 is merely one example for illustration purposes. Any of thecomponents illustrated in FIG. 2 may be configured in different ways oromitted. Also, additional components may be present.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating one example of a process forproviding metadata of content. In this example, content may be received(e.g., via input 201, FIG. 2) and may further be displayed for a user(block 301). The content may include a variety of forms of dataincluding, for example, video and/or audio data. Video data may includeimages of objects, people, and so on. A user may wish to receiveadditional information on any of the objects depicted in the video data.In addition, the user may wish to obtain additional information on audioinformation presented in the content.

For example, the video data may include an output of a favorite actor.To obtain metadata 205 related to the actor, a user may select a buttonon the remote device 126 which causes a still image taken from the videodata. Image recognition techniques (e.g., facial recognition) may thenbe used to identify all or a portion of the still image, e.g., the usermay circle the actor's face to indicate a portion of the still image tobe identified, the image recognition techniques may automaticallyrecognize facial features without further user input, and so on. Thisidentification may then be used as a basis for the metadata 205 that isobtained for and output by the remote device 126, further discussion ofwhich may be found in relation to FIG. 4.

The system or device may further receive a signal or message from a user(block 302). A system receiving the input from the remote device may bethe local client 104 or a server associated with the broadcast of thecontent currently on the client, such as a server used to implement thehead end 102(m) of FIG. 1. Thus, the server may be part of the head end102(m) or other video distribution network, have a relationship withthat network, and so on. In a server embodiment, the remote device 126transmits its interest in data presented on the client device 104 to theserver, e.g., at the head end 102(m). The server then performs theprocessing to receive and respond to the request for information. In alocal embodiment, the client device 104 interprets the request andeither provides the response for more data from information storedlocally at the client 104 or accesses a network such as the Internet orthe head end 102(m) or other source to obtain the desired information.The signal or message may indicate desired information or metadata basedon the content being displayed. The signal or message from the user maybe received via the input 201 (FIG. 2) or via any other input device.

Based on the signal or message received from the user, the system ordevice may determine desired metadata and may further transmit thedesired metadata to a user (block 303). For example, the content 114(n)may contain metadata 116 describing different aspects of the content114(n). The metadata 116 may, for example, provide product informationfor objects displayed in the content 114(n) or biographical informationon people or individuals depicted in the content. In this example, thedata extractor 202 (FIG. 2) may receive the signal or message of theuser via the input 201 (FIG. 2) and, based on the signal or message,identify the desired metadata 116 in the content 114(n). The dataextractor 202 (FIG. 2) may further extract the desired metadata 116 fromthe content 114(n) and output the metadata via the metadata output 205(FIG. 2). Content 114(n) may be provided via the output 204 (FIG. 2).

The metadata 116 provided via the metadata output 205 may include datathat describes or characterizes an aspect of the content 114(n). Forexample, the metadata 116 may include information on objects displayedin the content 114(n). Continuing with the previous example, an objectdisplayed in the content 114(n) may be selected by a user, e.g., bycircling a still image as previously described, by capture of a stillimage as a “whole” and using image recognition techniques to determine aportion that is likely of interest to a user through execution of amodule automatically and without user interaction, and so on. Based onthe selection, metadata 116 corresponding to the selected object may beprovided to the user. The type of metadata 116 provided may vary basedon the type of object selected. For example, a user may select an objectdisplayed in the content 114(n) to receive purchasing information forthe object. In this case, the content 114(n) may contain an image of anitem that may be purchased. The user selects the object on the displayand metadata 116 is transmitted to a remote device 126 of the user wherethe metadata 116 may describe various aspects of the object such asprice, availability, and so on.

The metadata 116 may be provided to the user at a remote device 126. Forexample, the content 114(n) may be displayed on a display device of theclient device 104 that is separate from the remote device 126. The userselects an object from the displayed content 114(n) on the displaydevice (e.g., from a still image taken from the content output by theclient device 104 as previously described) and the correspondingmetadata may be transmitted to the remote device of the user, which isillustrated as metadata 128 with remote device 126. The remote device126 of the user may be separate from the display device of the clientdevice 104 as illustrated and may be located any distance from thedisplay device, such as over a local area or wide area network. Hence,the display on the display device may be provided irrespective ofmetadata 128 being displayed on the remote device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example 400 for providing metadata116 of content 114(n) to the remote device 126. In this example, content112(k) may be displayed on a display device (block 401) of the clientdevice 104. Hence, the display device may display a variety ofinformation, including video and/or audio information, e.g., audiocontent output via speakers of the client device 104. For example, ifcontent 114(n) configured as video information is displayed on thedisplay device of the client device 104, an object (e.g., actor's face,corporate logo, text, and so on) displayed as a portion of the videoinformation may have associated metadata 116 that describes or furthercharacterizes the object being displayed.

For instance, the content 114(n) may contain images of a particulartelevision celebrity. However, a user may wish to receive biographicaldata, filmography, and so on of the television celebrity. In thisinstance, the user may select the image of the television celebrity onthe display, such as to cause the client device 104 to store a stillimage which includes the television celebrity's face by interaction witha user interface output by the remote device 126. Responsive to the userselection of the television celebrity (e.g., by causing the still imageto be captured and identifying a portion of the still image thatincludes the television celebrity's face after the still image istransferred to the remote device 126), metadata 116 describing thetelevision celebrity may be transmitted to a remote device 126 of theuser. The user may then interact with the metadata 116 on the remotedevice 126, such as to view the biographical data.

As previously described, the remote device 126 may be configured as avariety of devices that receives data and is separate from the displaydevice of the client device 104 that displays the content 114(n). Forexample, the remote device 126 may include a phone, music player, remotecontrol device, and so on. In this case, other viewers of the displaydevice of the client device 104 are not distracted by the metadata 116,e.g., the output of the metadata 116 by the remote device 126 does notinterfere with the output of the content 114(n) by the client device104.

In another example, metadata 116 may be automatically transmitted to theremote device 126 based on preferences of a user or a remote device 126.In this case, a storage 203 (FIG. 2) may be included for storing user orremote device 126 preferences. The preferences may be received and readby a data extractor 202 (FIG. 2) (block 403, FIG. 4) to determinemetadata 128 to be transmitted to a remote device 126 of the user (block404, FIG. 4). Metadata 116 corresponding to the content may be providedfrom a data source, an example of which is the head end 102(m) ofFIG. 1. In this example, the data source (e.g., the head end 102(m)) mayprovide the content 114(n) and metadata 116 via an input (201, FIG. 2)to a data extractor (202, FIG. 2). The data extractor 202 may furtherreceive preference information from a user or may store the preferenceinformation from the user and/or the remote device 126 in storage 203.Based on corresponding preference information, the data extractor 202may identify metadata 116 that correspond to the content 114(n) andtransmit the identified metadata 116 to the remote device 126 (block405), which is illustrated as metadata 128. Thus, the remote device 126may correspond to the user and may include a variety of types of remotedevices. In one example, the remote device 126 includes a display and/ora speaker such that the remote device 126 may display or present themetadata to the user.

As one example, a user may wish to receive a particular type of data onthe remote device 126. For instance, the user may wish to receive newsupdates on the remote device 126 when configured as a wireless phone. Inthis instance, the user may send a preference to indicate the desire toreceive such information at regular intervals. The preference may bestored and accessed when the desired information is received. Whencontent 114(n) is received from a data source such as a news agencyproviding news updates, the system may retrieve user preferences fromstorage and may identify metadata 116 within the content 114(n) from thedata source. The identified metadata 116 (e.g., news updates) may betransmitted to the remote device 126 (i.e., wireless phone in thisexample), which is illustrated as metadata 128 in FIG. 1.

In an implementation, the metadata 126 obtained for output by the remotedevice 126 may be synchronized with particular points in time in anoutput of the content 114(n) by the client device. For example, a userof a remote device 126 may have missed a last play of a sporting eventoutput in content 114(n) that is displayed in the display device of theclient device 104. Accordingly, a user of the remote device 126 mayinitiate an operation which determine a particular point in time in anoutput of the content 114(n) at the client device 104, such as todetermine a current timestamp in the connect, current “offset” (e.g.,third quarter, 12 seconds remaining), and so on.

This information may then be communicated from the client device 104 tothe remote device 126, which may then be used by the remote device 126to obtain metadata 128 that pertains to a desired point in time.Continuing with the previous example, the remote device 126 may use thedetermination of the particular point in time in the output of thecontent 114(n) to “rewind” a display of the content on the remote device126 to locate the desired play. Thus, the operation of the remote device126 and the client device 104 may be synchronized, one with another. Inone embodiment, the client device 104 has random access memorycapability and is capable of streaming multiple streams of videoregarding the current video, and streams the requested video to theremote device 126 for display without interrupting the current broadcastof the video at the client device 104. Other technologies for enablingsimultaneous streaming of video from a single source may be used. In afurther embodiment, a client device 104 is continuously broadcasting thecontent to the remote device 126, which is then buffered. Thisembodiment enables a fast and responsive display in response to theuser's request to rewind or otherwise move around in the video. In yetanother embodiment, the remote device 126 sends the metadata informationto the server, e.g., a server at the head end 102(m). The server thenidentifies the correct segment of content 114(n) and transmits thecontent 144(n) directly to the remote device 126. This embodiment hasthe advantage of lessening the processing burden on the client device104. A variety of other examples are also contemplated.

In another example, a number of requests from a number of users may bereceived and processed. FIG. 5 is a flowchart 500 illustrating anotherexample of processing requests for metadata. In this example, content114(n) is displayed (block 501) on a display device of the client device104 for a user. The content 114(n) may contain metadata 116 that is notdisplayed with the content 114(n) on the display device of the clientdevice 104. A variety of numbers or types of metadata 116 pertaining tothe content 114(n) may be included. For example, the metadata 116 mayinclude alternate language tracks, purchasing information for objectsdisplayed in the content 114(n), descriptive data for objects or personsdisplayed, descriptive information for additional material such as soundor music being provided in the content 114(n), subtitling information indifferent languages, and so on. These are merely examples as any type ofmetadata 114(n) may be included and a variety of other examples are alsocontemplated without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

A first user selection is received (block 502). The first user selectionmay include a selection of an item or object displayed on the displaydevice of the client device 104 as previously described. For example, auser may select an object being displayed to receive additionalinformation on the object, either on the display device of the clientdevice 104 and/or on a display device of the remote device 126. A seconduser selection is received (block 503). The second user selection may befrom the same user inputting the first user selection or a differentuser. For example, a first user may select an object displayed orpresented in the content 114(n) and may also select another objectdisplayed or presented in the content 114(n) concurrently or at a laterpoint in time. Alternatively, a first user may select an objectdisplayed or presented in the content 114(n) while a second user,different from the first user, may select the object or another objectdisplayed or presented in the content 114(n).

Metadata 116 corresponding to the first selection and the secondselection is identified (block 505 and block 506). The identification ofthe metadata 116 for each of the first and second selections may beperformed based on a number of factors. In one example, as illustratedin FIG. 5, the metadata may be identified based on preference data(block 504). In this example, preference data may be received (block504) from a storage or from a user or remote device 126, e.g., inputthrough a user interface output by the client device 104 and/or remotedevice 126. The preference data may describe desired information. Forexample, the preference data may indicate that a user desires to receivestock quote information at specified intervals. In this case, metadata116 pertaining to the desired stock quote information may be extractedfrom the content 114(n) and may be presented to the user.

In this example, a user may request information on different objectssuch that metadata 116 for each of the objects is provided on a remotedevice 126 for the user. For example, the user may select a first object(block 502) and a second object (block 503) and receive first metadatacorresponding to the first object (block 505) and second metadatadescribing the second object (block 506). Alternatively, different usersmay request information on any objects such that metadata for each ofthe objects selected is provided on remote device 126 for the differentusers.

For example, a first user may select a first object (block 502) while asecond user may select an object (block 503). The object selected by thesecond user may be the same object or a different object from the objectselected by the first user. Metadata 116 may be identified for each ofthe selections (blocks 505, 506)—in this case, first metadata may beidentified for the first selection by the first user (block 505) andsecond metadata may be identified for the second selection by the seconduser (block 506).

If the first user and the second user select the same object, then thefirst metadata and the second metadata may be substantially the same ifboth the first user and the second user desire the same information.Alternatively, the first user and the second user may select the sameobject but may desire different information on the same object. In thiscase, the first metadata and the second metadata may be different. Forexample, a user interface may be output upon selection of a portion ofan image that provides options for metadata associated with the portion,such as for an actor the metadata may be divided by type such asbiographical information, future airings of television programs relatedto the actor, and so on.

Based on the selections from the different users, first metadata may betransmitted to the first user (block 507) while second metadata may betransmitted to the second user (block 507). As described above, thefirst and second metadata may be similar or different.

Continuing with the previous example, a first user may desire a replayof a program being displayed on a display of the client device 104 and asecond user may desire subtitles for the program being displayed by theclient device 104. The first user may request a replay of the programand the program may replay on a first remote device corresponding to thefirst user responsive to the request. The second user may request thedesired subtitles and the subtitles may be displayed on a second remotedevice corresponding to the second user. In this way, the first user mayreceive information on a remote device of relevance to the first userwhile the second user may receive information desired by the second useron a remote device. Neither the first user nor the second user receivesinformation that is not requested by the respective users. For example,the first user does not receive subtitle information and the second userdoes not receive a replay of the program.

In another example, a user may transmit content (e.g., via a website)and the transmitted content may be sent to any number of other users.For example, content may be received from a user. The received contentmay contain any information including audio and/or video data. Thereceived content may also be displayed on a display device of the remotedevice that corresponds to any other user. For example, a display deviceof the remote device 126 may display the content received from the userto other users. Alternatively, the display device may display othercontent (e.g., a television program) while transmitting the contentreceived from the user to other users via other remote devicescorresponding to each receiving user. A variety of other examples arealso contemplated.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example 600 of transmitting usercontent to a remote device. Content may be presented or displayed for anumber of users via a display device. The users may have a correspondingremote device capable of receiving and/or sending content. A first usermay have content on his/her remote device that is not initiallyavailable to other users and not being displayed on the display device.The first user may transmit the content on his/her remote device to theservice (block 601). Other remote network devices may be identified toreceive the content from the first user (block 602) and the content fromthe first user may be transmitted from the first user to the identifiedother users via remote devices of the other users (block 603). Forexample, other users or other remote devices to receive the content fromthe first user or first remote device may be identified by subscriptioninformation or preference information for the first user or for theother users. Alternatively, users or remote devices may be identified bythe first user in which the first user may specify at least one otherremote user to receive the content.

Also, the display device may not display the content received from thefirst user. Rather, each of the other users that receive the contentfrom the first user via the service may receive the content while thedisplay device of the service does not display the content from thefirst user.

It is understood that aspects of the present description can take manyforms and embodiments. The embodiments shown herein are intended toillustrate rather than to limit the description, it being appreciatedthat variations may be made without departing from the spirit of thescope of the invention. Although illustrative embodiments have beenshown and described, a wide range of modification, change andsubstitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in someinstances some features may be employed without a corresponding use ofthe other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appendedclaims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope ofthe description.

1. A method comprising at a client device: receiving content andassociated metadata in a broadcast; identifying a request for metadataregarding a current broadcast from a remote device that iscommunicatively coupled to the client device; analyzing the request toidentify the metadata that is relevant to the request; and outputtingthe metadata that corresponds to the identified request to the remotedevice to cause the remote device to display the metadata that isrelevant to the request.
 2. A method as described in claim 1, whereinthe identifying and the outputting are performed in real time as thecontent and associated metadata are received.
 3. A method as describedin claim 1, further comprising storing the content and the associatedmetadata in storage at the client device, wherein the identifying andthe outputting are performed as the content and associated metadata arestored.
 4. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising storingthe content and the associated metadata in storage at the client device,wherein the identifying and the outputting are performed as the contentand associated metadata are output from the storage.
 5. A method asdescribed in claim 1, wherein the remote device is communicativelycoupled to the client device to cause the client device to implement oneor more functions that are local to the client device.
 6. A method asdescribed in claim 1, wherein the content and the associated metadataare streamed to the client device from a head end of a network operator.7. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the identifying and theoutputting are performed for a plurality of said remote devices suchthat each said remote device receives said metadata that is particularto respective preferences.
 8. A method comprising at a remote device:creating a persistent network connection between the remote device and aclient device; forming a request for metadata associated with contentoutput in a current broadcast at the client device; and outputting themetadata that corresponds to the identified request to the remote deviceto cause the remote device to display information relevant to therequest.
 9. A method as described in claim 8, wherein the networkconnection between the remote device and the client device is persistentsuch that the network connection between the remote device and theclient device is automatically created without user intervention.
 10. Amethod as described in claim 8, wherein: the creating is performed for aplurality of said client devices; and the network connection ispersistent such that the network connection between the remote deviceand each said client device is automatically created.
 11. A method asdescribed in claim 8, wherein the remote device is configured to causethe client device to implement one or more functions that are local tothe client device.
 12. A method as described in claim 8, wherein: thecontent and the metadata are streamed to the client device from a headend of a network operator; and the remote device receives the metadatavia the client device.
 13. A method as described in claim 8, wherein:the content is streamed to the client device from a head end of anetwork operator; and the metadata is streamed directly to remote devicewithout being streamed to the client device.
 14. A method as describedin claim 8, wherein the request identifies at least a portion of thecontent output by the client device.
 15. A method comprising: initiatingan operation at a remote device to determine a particular point in timein an output of content at a client device; receiving information thatdescribes the particular point in time; using the information toretrieve the content that corresponds to the particular point in time;and outputting the content that corresponds to the particular point intime at the remote device.
 16. A method as described in claim 15,wherein the particular point in time is determined through use of atimestamp or determination of a current offset.
 17. A method asdescribed in claim 15, wherein the information is received from theclient device.
 18. A method as described in claim 15, wherein thecontent is retrieved from a head end of a network provider that streamedthe content to the client device.
 19. A method as described in claim 15,wherein the content is streamed directly to the remote device and theclient device from a head end of a network operator.
 20. A method asdescribed in claim 15, wherein the client device continuously broadcastthe content to the remote device, which is then buffered by the remotedevice for the retrieval.